Zabian Dowdell

Zabian Dowdell (born September 10, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Pahokee, Florida, he played basketball for his hometown's high school. He played college basketball for the Virginia Tech Hokies from 2003 to 2007. In his senior season he was named in the First-team All-ACC and the ACC All-Defensive team. Following his graduation from college, Dowdell played professionally mainly in Europe, also having brief stints in the NBA and the NBA D-League.

Early life Dowdell attended Pahokee High School, where he played high school basketball and was first team all-state as a junior and senior. In 2003, he was named The Palm Beach Post 6A-3A Player of the Year, Palm Beach Post Small School Player of the Year, and Florida Dairy Farmers 3A Player of the Year. As a senior, Dowdell averaged 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds per game.

College career Dowdell attended and played college basketball at Virginia Tech from 2003 to 2007. A four-year starter, Dowdell and teammate Jamon Gordon were considered one of the best backcourt duos in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Dowdell is the seventh leading scorer (1,785) in Virginia Tech history, as well as fifth in assists (380), and third in steals (241). He was Seth Greenberg's first signee at Virginia Tech.

Dowdell scored in double figures in his first 41 ACC regular season games. He was named All-ACC honorable mention twice, All-ACC Defensive team twice, and All-American honorable mention in 2006–07. He was also named to the first team All-ACC during his senior season, becoming the first Hokie to do so. His accomplishments at the university led to his induction into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

Freshman season Dowdell made his first collegiate start on November 22, 2003, in the win over the University of New Hampshire. During the game, he scored 15 points, with five assists and three steals. He scored a season-high 20 points during a win against West Virginia University. The tournament was Virginia Tech's first postseason appearance in nine years and their first National Invitation Tournament appearance in a decade.

Dowdell started 29 games and scored in double figures 26 times. as well as career highs in field goals made (nine), three-point field goals made (seven; tying a school record During the game, he hit eight of his final 12 shots and scored his 1,000th career point. After the regular season, he scored 15 points against the University of Virginia in the 2006 ACC tournament. On January 13, 2007, he scored 23 points and had four steals in a win over the first-ranked University of North Carolina in Cassell Coliseum, ending North Carolina's 12-game winning streak. On February 13, 2007, Dowdell scored a career-high 33 points in an 81–80 overtime win again against fourth-ranked North Carolina in the Dean Smith Center, completing the sweep. He scored six of those points in overtime, and made 17 of 19 free throws, including the game-winning points with a pair of foul shots with 1 minute 27 seconds remaining. After the regular season, he scored 28 points, had six assists, and had five steals in two games of the 2007 ACC tournament. Dowdell then scored 15 points in two games of the 2007 NCAA tournament. Dowdell and the Sealants lost in the opening round against Holiday Inn Portsmouth, 110–71, and Dowdell led the Sealants in scoring with 22 points.

SLUC Nancy After going undrafted in the 2007 NBA draft, Dowdell played for the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center and the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada from July 6 to the 15.

He then signed a contract with the French team SLUC Nancy of the French League. On June 15, 2008, Dowdell and SLUC Nancy won the LNB Championship game against defending champion Chorale Roanne Basket, 84–53. He played for 14 minutes and scored two points.

Dowdell and SLUC Nancy also played in the 2007–08 ULEB Cup (now known as the ULEB Eurocup), a competition that included 54 teams, initially divided in nine groups of six teams. SLUC Nancy, who played in Group D, was eliminated during the round-robin group stage (regular season) and did not participate in the knockout stage or the playoffs. Dowdell played in all ten regular season games and had 112 points, 32 assists, 28 rebounds and 12 steals.

Pallacanestro Casale Dowdell signed with A.S. Junior Pallacanestro Casale (known as Fastweb Casale) in the LegADue, the second-highest division of professional basketball in Italy. He played in all 30 regular season games and averaged 20.7 points per game. On November 2, 2008, he scored a season-high 36 points in a win against Trenkwalder Reggio Emilia, 91–87. In the quarterfinals of the postseason, Fastweb Casale won three straight games against Coopsette Rimini to sweep the series and advance. In the three games, Dowdell had 39 points, 11 assists, 12 rebounds, and five steals. His play allowed him to sign up for their training camp with undrafted rookie ex-Northeastern Husky Matt Janning and veteran NBA point guard Chucky Atkins.

Following the NBA Summer League, he signed a deal with the Tulsa 66ers, one of the NBA Development League teams. After four months, he decided to move on, accepting an offer of the Spanish club Unicaja Málaga.

In 2012, he signed with Gran Canaria.

Phoenix Suns On January 9, 2011, the Suns signed Dowdell to a ten-day contract. He signed a second ten-day contract on January 27, 2011. Dowdell was featured in the January 31, 2011 issue of Sports Illustrated in an article about NBA players with ten-day contracts. On February 7, 2011, the Suns signed Dowdell through the remainder of the season. On December 13, the Suns announced that they had waived Dowdell and replaced him with Ronnie Price. On January 18, 2012, Dowdell signed a contract with Anadolu Efes Pilsen. However, due to a failed physical, he was waived.

2012–2020 On March 1, 2012, after passing his physical exam, Dowdell signed with CB Gran Canaria in Spain.

In July 2012, Dowdell signed with Enisey Krasnoyarsk in Russia.

On December 3, 2013, he signed a contract with Lietuvos Rytas. Over three Euroleague games, he averaged 12 points, 3 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game.

On August 19, 2014, Dowdell signed a contract with the Belgian team Spirou Charleroi.

On July 16, 2015, he signed a one-year contract with the Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg.

On August 28, 2016, Dowdell signed with Italian club Pallacanestro Cantù for the 2016–17 season.

On November 28, 2018, he signed with Champagne Châlons-Reims Basket of the LNB Pro A.

On July 25, 2019, he signed with Pistoia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). But, before the end of the season, the team decided to replace him with the new hire Randy Culpepper and, because the number of foreign players exceeded the limit, Dowdell transferred in Germany to Rasta Vechta.

Career statistics

NBA

EuroLeague

College